by Val Wood
Today, as she walked along the high river wall, the tide was out and the saltmarsh and mudflats were thronging with vast flocks of wading birds: dunlin, plover, shelduck and redshank were feeding on the prolific supply of crustaceans. She stood still for a moment, watching, and not wanting to disturb, the long-legged curlews as they dropped onto the flats to burrow with their curved bills into the mud, searching out lugworm and ragworm.
As she watched, Rosa deliberated that she still hadn’t approached Mr Drew about her grandmother coming to stay for Delia’s confinement, but she could put it off no longer. Aunt Bella had died the previous week and Mrs Jennings was sorting out her cousin’s possessions and had to make a decision about her future. I’ll ask him today, she determined. No, I will tell him! There is no alternative that I can think of.
She walked on until she came to Stone Creek, where she stood looking down at the boats moored in the harbour. Fishermen were sitting on upturned barrels mending their nets, men were unloading coal from a seagoing vessel and another group of men standing apart from the others were in a serious discussion. One of them was James Drew. Two others were the Irish brothers.
Rosa realized that if they turned they would see her standing there and she pulled her hood over her head and turned around, wondering at herself for not wanting to be seen by Mr Drew, for she was entitled to be out if she wished. She started to walk back along the track watching the river and its traffic and saw a cutter, midway in the river, drop its anchor almost opposite to the Stone Creek harbour.
She heard a voice from behind her hail ‘Hello,’ but she kept on walking and saw in the distance a figure coming towards her. A man with a gun and a dog which wagged its tail in acknowledgement of her.
‘Rosa!’ The voice called her again and she recognized it as John Byrne’s. She turned and he was running along the track towards her. His brother and James Drew were out of sight. ‘Rosa!’ This time the call came from the other direction, from the man with the dog. Jim.
John Byrne reached her first and he smiled. ‘Are you running away from me?’
‘No. Why should I be?’
‘From James Drew then?’ There was a hint of a laugh in the question but his voice was probing.
‘No need for me to run away from him either,’ she answered calmly. ‘I’m free to do as I wish.’
‘Ah,’ he sighed. ‘If that were only true. We are none of us totally free.’ He looked up as Jim drew nearer and dropped his voice. ‘The man yonder looks familiar. One of Drew’s sons?’
She didn’t answer but turned to Jim as he approached. ‘This is a busy thoroughfare today,’ she said lightly. ‘Stone Creek’s as busy as Patrington market day and I was expecting to be alone.’
‘There’s allus somebody about when you least expect ’em.’ Jim spoke to her but stared at John Byrne, who returned his gaze.
‘Jim Drew?’ John Byrne asked. His voice had a hard edge to it.
‘Aye, ’same.’
It seemed to Rosa that the men were like two dogs sniffing and circling as they gave their greetings.
‘John Byrne?’ said Jim.
‘Indeed. Sure and I never thought that we’d meet again.’
‘Nor I,’ Jim answered. ‘It’s been a long time.’
‘Too long.’
‘I wouldn’t say that,’ Jim said slowly. ‘I’d no wish to see you or your brother again.’
Rosa was startled. Jim was often blunt and plain-spoken but never uncivil, as she felt he was being now.
‘Your father is glad to see us.’ John Byrne had a cynical smile upon his lips. ‘We have a little business venture going.’
‘He doesn’t need any other business,’ Jim said abruptly. ‘We’re farmers.’ He glanced at Rosa as he spoke. ‘Neither should it be discussed here. It’s not right or proper.’
‘Oh, but I think it is.’ The Irishman turned to Rosa as if he was including her in the discussion. ‘It’s as if we’ve come full circle. The second generation!’
‘No! Not on any account.’ Jim’s voice was full of suppressed fury.
‘You wouldn’t want your father’s name dragged in the mud?’ There was a threat in John Byrne’s voice.
‘I’ll not have Rosa brought into it.’ Jim shifted his hand on his gun.
‘But she is in it,’ Byrne said smoothly. ‘When her father disappeared and she was born, she surely took on his mantle?’
‘You’re talking rubbish,’ Jim snarled. ‘You were always full o’ damned moonshine and me, young fool that I was, used to believe it.’
‘What are you talking about?’ Rosa broke in. ‘What mantle? What about my father?’
‘Nowt!’ Jim said. ‘Get off home, Rosa. I’ll not have you involved in his shady business.’
‘Protective, aren’t we?’ Byrne sneered. ‘Why’s that, I wonder? And I also wonder why your father took her under his wing? He’s hardly got the milk of human kindness in his blood. Not from where I’m standing anyway.’
‘Get off home, Rosa,’ Jim repeated. ‘I’ll sort this out once and for all.’
‘No!’ Rosa had seen his fingers shifting on his gun and was afraid that he might fire. ‘I want to know what all this is about.’ She turned to John Byrne. ‘The last time we met you said that my father had a ship. Was he a smuggler? Is that why you were here on Sunk Island?’
He gave her a lazy smile. ‘What a clever girl. Brains as well as beauty!’ His eyes appraised her and she felt herself blushing. ‘We were smuggling sure enough. Had a good business going too until we came to this lonely land.’ He grimaced. ‘Then your daddy fell in love and became senseless. We don’t know what happened next, except that Carlos disappeared and Seamus and me got caught by the Customs.’
He looked at Jim, who was eyeing him with loathing.
‘As for Jim here.’ John Byrne shook his head. ‘He did whatever his father told him, didn’t you, Jim? Just as you will this time.’
Rosa watched Jim’s face. He seemed to be struggling with fear, defiance and humiliation.
‘He doesn’t have to do anything he doesn’t want to,’ she said boldly. ‘Especially if you’re planning something else that is against the law.’ She looked back towards Stone Creek and couldn’t believe that Mr Drew would become involved in something illegal. ‘I’d have thought you would have learned your lesson if you’ve been in prison already.’
Byrne stiffened. ‘It’s because I’ve been in prison that I’ve come back! Somebody has to pay for those years.’ His words were harsh. ‘I was only a boy when I was caught. I grew up in jail. I want some answers and I’m going to get them.’
Jim defied him. ‘You’re full o’ bluster, Byrne. An ass, that’s what you are. An ass in a lion’s skin! There are no answers! Can’t you get it into your head? It’s finished! Over! We should all get on with our lives as best we can.’
There was a burning obsession in John Byrne’s eyes as he spat out, ‘Never! Never while I live. Whilst I have breath in my body I’ll find out the truth and somebody will pay.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
‘MR DREW! I need to talk to you.’ Rosa took her courage in both hands when she met him alone out in the yard. ‘It’s about Delia.’
‘I don’t wish to discuss her.’ His manner was abrupt.
‘It can’t be easy for you.’ Rosa thought she would try placating him. ‘It’s been a shock to you. Not what you would expect from one of your daughters.’
His face was like thunder and he opened his mouth to bellow at her, but she quickly forestalled him. ‘I think there is a way out of the present difficulty.’
‘The only way out is for her to disappear off Sunk Island and out of my sight,’ he snapped. ‘I want nothing more to do with her.’
‘She’s carrying your grandchild,’ she implored. ‘She has done wrong, but that can’t be undone now, and none of us is without sin.’
His face, which had been scarlet with fury, drained of colour and he stared at her.
‘The c
hild will be born out of wedlock, I know,’ she went on, ‘but her mother wouldn’t have turned her away.’
‘What? What did you say?’
She gazed back at him. ‘Her mother wouldn’t have turned her away,’ she repeated.
He licked his lips and took several shallow breaths and she thought that he was like a man drowning. ‘Are you ill?’ she asked. ‘Do you want to go inside and sit down?’
‘No,’ he gasped. ‘I just want all of this to go away. I need some peace.’
There’s something more than Delia bothering him, she thought. He’s shaking! ‘I’ve asked my gran to come and stay,’ she said firmly. ‘We’ve enough room and she knows about these things. I don’t,’ she added, ‘and you wouldn’t want a stranger coming here to deliver the child.’
‘No,’ he said. ‘I won’t have that.’ He stared defiantly at her. ‘I’ll not pay her for coming!’
‘She wouldn’t expect you to,’ she said coldly. ‘Just her keep, that’s all.’
He turned away. ‘Another mouth to feed,’ he muttered.
She couldn’t resist a barb. ‘You had a wife and five daughters to look after you before, Mr Drew. Now there’s only me, and Delia. Besides, my gran’s a good cook.’
He grunted, but said nothing more and she turned and went into the house, feeling satisfied. It would be so much easier with her grandmother there, she was a comforting, steady soul, and she wouldn’t put up with any tantrums from Delia.
‘You’re not a very good colour,’ was the first thing Mrs Jennings said to Delia on arrival. ‘You should be blooming! Are you eating? You’re eating for two, don’t forget.’
‘I wish I could forget,’ Delia muttered. ‘I wish I could just forget about it and it would go away.’
‘Well it won’t,’ Mrs Jennings said cheerfully. ‘You should have given more thought about it before. You can’t undo what’s done, so you must make ’best of it.’
She put the kettle on the fire. She seemed to have taken charge of the kitchen already. Turning to Delia she added softly, ‘You’ll feel different about it when you hold ’bairn in your arms, mark my words if you don’t.’
She ran her fingers over Delia’s cheekbones. Her face was thin and her skin had a greyish tinge to it. Mrs Jennings gave a slight nod of her head. ‘Best rest from now on,’ she said. ‘A walk every morning to get some fresh air and then a lie-down in ’afternoon. No lifting coals or wood.’
Tears came into Delia’s eyes at the kind words and she blinked them away. ‘I don’t feel well,’ she mumbled, ‘but I’m scared of what my da will say if I don’t pull my weight.’
‘You leave your da to me.’ Mrs Jennings patted her arm. ‘I’ll make sure he’s nowt to grumble about.’
To Rosa she expressed her fears. ‘That young woman doesn’t look good. I’m not happy about her. We’ll have ’doctor here to take another look at her.’
The doctor, when he came, pursed his lips. ‘Rest,’ he said to Delia. ‘I think it won’t be long before your confinement.’
Delia turned even paler. ‘I think I’m going to be sick,’ she whispered to Mrs Jennings after the doctor had left. ‘I’m that frightened.’
‘Nowt to be frightened about,’ Mrs Jennings said soothingly. ‘It’s happening to women all over ’world, every day, perfectly natural. Just think on all animals that just get on with it: hosses, cows, sheep, pigs.’
Delia gave her a look of disgust. ‘That doesn’t give me any comfort at all!’
‘Well, that’s ’way it is.’ Mrs Jennings was blunt, her patience rapidly disappearing. ‘So remember if ever you’re tempted again.’
‘I’ll not be tempted,’ Delia said bitterly. ‘I’m finished wi’ men for good.’
But she realized she would change her mind on the morning she took a gentle walk across the pastureland and met the red-haired Irishman again. He greeted her so politely and asked, with a charming lilt to his voice, how she was, and offered her his arm to escort her back home.
‘Miss Drew,’ he said quietly. ‘Forgive me – perhaps it’s Mrs?’
‘No,’ she mumbled. ‘It isn’t, I’m Delia – and I’m not wed.’
‘So!’ He gave her a smile. ‘A chance for some of us?’
She tossed her head. ‘I don’t think so.’
‘Can I ask you a question?’ His voice was soft, like velvet, she thought.
She shrugged. ‘If you want.’
‘You might slap my face!’
She didn’t answer, for he was gently stroking her arm with his fingers.
‘Are you unfortunate enough to be in the family way? Has some cowardly lover left you?’
She stared straight ahead. It showed, then. She had thought if she didn’t eat much and wore loose clothes that no-one would notice, but she had felt the eyes of Harry, the farm hand, on her the other day, and he had dropped his gaze when he saw her looking back at him.
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I am. And he did.’
‘Did your father and brothers not go after him?’ he asked.
‘He’s left the area,’ she lied. ‘They couldn’t find him.’
‘But you’ve got the support of your family? Your father is taking care of you? You’re very lucky.’ He gave her a compassionate glance. ‘If you had been an Irish girl so afflicted, she would have been abandoned by her family and the baby sent to an orphanage.’
She shook her head, feeling that she could confide in him. ‘No. Da would have turned me out. He’s so righteous. He said I had sinned, which I know I did.’ Tears, which came so easily, flushed her eyes. ‘But Matthew and Jim persuaded him to let me stop.’ She didn’t mention Rosa or the effort she had made.
‘Ah,’ he said softly. ‘Of course. It must have been hard for your poor father, being a religious church-going man. So God-fearing! He would expect his sons and daughters to be as strong and virtuous as he so obviously is.’
She thought she detected a laugh in his voice, but when she turned to face him, he was straight-faced and solemn.
‘Someone will come along, Delia,’ he murmured. ‘Someone else will see your worth and charm.’ He smiled and looked into her eyes, then reached to kiss her cheek. She blushed and drew in her breath. ‘They will forgive that they are not the first to capture your maidenhood.’
She stood with lips parted. Was it true? Did some men not mind if a woman isn’t pure when they marry her?
‘I’d like to think that there’d be someone—’ she began.
They were close to the farmhouse, but he didn’t even give it a glance as he stepped nearer to her. ‘There’ll be someone, be sure of it,’ he murmured, and turning her face up towards him he kissed her on the lips. ‘Be sure of it, Delia.’
He stroked her cheek, then blowing her a kiss he moved away. ‘Go home now,’ he urged. ‘Take care of yourself and your baby.’
She smiled. She hadn’t felt so good in months. There was hope after all. She watched him as he walked away. He had such a spring in his step. He looked so lively. He turned and waved and she saw the smile on his face. He seemed very happy. Was it because of her?
Mrs Jennings had seen them from the window. She tried to warn her. ‘There’ll be some men will try to tek advantage,’ she said. ‘They’ll think cos you’ve fallen once, you’ll be willing. Don’t be tekken in,’ she advised. ‘They’ll sweet-talk you, but they won’t marry you, girl. They’ll not tek on another man’s child.’
Delia listened and nodded in agreement but as she went upstairs for her rest she smiled. What did that old woman know? When had she last felt the sweetness of a man’s lips on hers? She felt a restlessness inside her. She wanted to get on with life now that there was some hope, and the Irishman had given her that hope. Mrs Jennings might be wise, but she was quite wrong.
She lay on her bed and ran her fingers around her breasts, which were full and round, then smoothing them across her belly, she considered that she hadn’t felt any movement for some time. She sighed. She hoped now that it wouldn�
�t be long. Better to be over and done with and she could make a fresh start. A picture of the Irishman came into her head and she etched her fingers around her mouth where he had kissed her.
She played out a little scene where he and she and the baby left Sunk Island. Taking his arm, she turned her back on her family and especially on Rosa, and they rode away in a neat trap, like the one which Maggie had. I’ll show them all, she thought drowsily. I’ll teach them to look down on me. For that was what she felt. She had fallen from grace, not able to eat at her father’s table, nothing more than a lowly servant.
If Rosa hadn’t been here, Da would have been glad to have me back, even with the babby. If she hadn’t been here I might never have gone away in the first place, and none of this would have happened. And so she absolved her guilt and transferred it to someone else. To Rosa, whom she had never liked.
‘Is yon young woman expecting?’ Harry asked Rosa as he sat down at the table for his midday meal. The others hadn’t come in yet and Mrs Jennings had gone to the dairy to fetch some butter.
‘She is. But please don’t mention it in front of Mr Drew.’
‘Can’t disguise it, though.’ He took a sup of ale that she had poured for him. ‘Can’t hide summat like that.’ He gave a sniff. ‘And ’chap won’t marry her, I suppose, otherwise we’d have seen a wedding by now. I expect her da’ll be preaching in ’church about sins of ’flesh, being sort o’ man that he is. But she’ll not be ’first and she’ll not be ’last either. Why – I remember when I was a young chap—’
Rosa hushed him as she heard the sound of footsteps entering the house and Mr Drew was followed in by Matthew and Jim.
‘Dinner not on ’table?’ Mr Drew barked.
‘It’s ready,’ Rosa said. ‘I didn’t put it out as I know you like your rabbit pie straight from ’oven.’
‘Rabbit pie! Aye, it has to be hot – or else cold. Never just warm.’ He sat down in his chair as Mrs Jennings came in and took the pie out of the oven, and Rosa dished up the floury potatoes.
